NYSEG Email and Reality

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NYSEG_RGE-logoNYSEG was preparing for the worst and trying to inspire customer confidence and stave off complaints. The NY gas and electric company sent email the day before the snow storm was expected to hit to tell us, "We're Prepared!"NYSEG storm

Anticipating outages, NYSEG told us to contact "Outage Central" on its website. The main point of the email seems to be to tell customers how to report an outage-presumably to avoid a flood of phone calls that NYSEG can't handle.

Meanwhile, about 100,000 people are without power, and Twitter is abuzz with calls for NYSEG to do something other than "assess" the situation. Some are calling for an investigation into how NYSEG is handling outages.

@irenapapst tweeted, "... ithaca city schools were declared closed, and NYSEG sent out a pamphlet on storm preparedness. if other organizations were prepared ..."

Discussion:

  • What's your view of NYSEG's pre-storm communications? Did this help or hurt the organization's reputation? What, if any, impact do you think the email and website had on  storm outages?
  • People are harsh towards NYSEG on Twitter. From what you observe, is it deserved? Could the organization do something different?